CMU Approved

Approved: Exploded View

By | Published on Thursday 30 June 2016

Exploded View

Exploded View formed in 2014, as Annika Henderson prepared to make her live debut in Mexico in her solo guise, Anika. Rehearsing with local musicians Martin Thulin, Hugo Quezada and Hector Melgarejo, they hit upon a new sound, separate from that which they were preparing to perform at that solo show. Heading into the studio, they recorded an album’s worth of songs, heavily improvised, straight to tape, first takes.

The first track unveiled from that album, due for release on Sacred Bones on 19 Aug, was ‘No More Parties In The Attic’, driven by rolling bass and synth lines that bounce hypnotically. Following this week is ‘Orlando’, a dreamier, more upbeat song that shimmers alongside its drug-fuelled line dancing video.

Commenting on the new associations brought to the song’s title earlier this month, Henderson says: “The song ‘Orlando’ was written at the end of 2014, and its video was completed shortly before the terrible events in Orlando, in the early hours of 12 Jun, when the most deadly mass shooting in the United States shook the country, the world and the queer community to its core, as the targets were clearly chosen, simply for being who they were, conducted in a space that has traditionally been one of protection, a safe haven for the queer community for decades: the dancefloor”.

“In the wake of our pain, when some have downplayed the chosen identity of the victims, while others may have concentrated solely on that, it is important to remember that this affects all of us”, she adds. “Whatever happens, dancefloors should continue to be a space for freedom of expression, for life’s simple pleasures and a safe haven for so many communities around the world”.

The band will play a show at the Shacklewell Arms in London on 23 Aug. And you can watch the video for ‘Orlando’ now.

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